Individual Services for Non-Resident Indians & Foreign Individuals

Tax Filing for Indian citizens working on-site, at client locations outside India

Tax Filing for Indian citizens who own a bank account or any other asset abroad

Tax Filing for Foreign nationals who work in India, who earn salary in India or have Indian assets

Structure Investments on Return to India

Claim DTAA Benefit

Declaration of foreign assets for Indian residents (Schedules FA, FSI and TR in the Income Tax Return)

Repatriation & 15CA/15CB Certification

Who is a NRI and how is he taxed?

How do I determine my residential status?

You are considered an Indian resident for a financial year:

when you are in India for at least 6 months (182 days to be exact) during the financial year

OR

you are in India for 2 months (60 days) for the year in the previous year AND have lived for one whole year (365 days) in the last four years.

If you are an Indian Citizen working abroad or a member of a crew on an Indian ship only the first condition is available to you – which means you are a resident when you spend atleast 182 days in India. The same is applicable to a PIO who is on a visit to India. The second condition is not applicable to these individuals.

A PIO is a person who, or any of his parents, or any of his grandparents were born in undivided India.

You are an NRI if you do not meet any of these conditions.

Is my income earned abroad taxable?

An NRI’s income taxes in India will depend upon his residential status for the year.

If your status is ‘resident’, your global income is taxable in India. If your status is ‘NRI’, your income which is earned or accrued in India is taxable in India.

Salary received in India or salary for service provided in India, income from a house property situated in India, capital gains on transfer of asset situated in India, income from Fixed Deposits or interest on savings bank account are all examples of income earned or accrued in India.

These incomes are taxable for an NRI. Income which is earned outside India is not taxable in India. Interest earned on a NRE account and FCNR account is tax free. Interest on NRO account is taxable for an NRI.

Am I required to file my income tax return in India?

NRI or not, any individual whose income exceeds Rs.2,50,000 (for FY ending 31st March 2015 or Rs.2,00,000 for FY ending 31st March 2014) is required to file an income tax return in India.

NRIs must file their returns when they:

want to claim a refund

have a loss that they want to carry forward

If capital gains from selling an asset is your only income in a financial year and TDS has been deducted on that, then you are not required to file your income tax return for that year.

When is the last date to file income tax return in India?

July 31 is the last date to file income tax return in India for NRIs.

Do NRIs have to pay advance tax?

If your tax liability exceeds Rs.10,000 in a financial year, you are required to pay advance tax. Interest under Section 234B and Section 234C is applicable when you don’t pay your advance tax.

Who is an Expat or foreign national?

An expatriate in India is someone who comes to live in India and is not a citizen of India.

Are expatriates liable to pay tax in India?

Even though the expatriate is a citizen of a foreign country any income which is earned by him/her in India shall be taxable in India. This income may have been earned by working in India or by providing services in India.

An income which is earned by an expatriate in India is taxable in India irrespective of the foreign national’s citizenship or residential status.This payment may also be subjected to TDS (Tax Deducted at Source) in India.

If your total income is less than the minimum exempt income, you can get a refund of this TDS by filing an Income Tax Return in India.

How is an expatriate’s income taxed when they become a Resident in India?

Taxability of income in India depends upon residential status. For a Resident entire income earned anywhere on the globe is taxable in India. This includes income that may have been earned in the country of citizenship and may also have been taxed there.

If the expatriate is a NRI or a Resident but not ordinarily resident (RNOR) only the income which is earned in India is taxable in India. Therefore, the first step is to find out the residential status. As per the residential status rules of the Indian Income Tax Act, for the first 2 years after your arrival in India you will enjoy RNOR status and will pay tax only on the income which is earned by you in India.

Can foreign national take benefit of DTAA?

Double Tax Avoidance Agreement or DTAA is an agreement between two countries to help avoid taxation of an income in both the countries. If income of an expatriate is taxable in India as well as another country, the expatriate can take the benefit of DTAA and avoid paying double tax on such income.